An Accra High Court has subpoenaed Dr. Joel Pabi, a medical doctor at the Ogbojo Polyclinic in Accra over an excuse duty he reportedly issued to Bright Alan Debrah aka BB, one of the ten persons standing trial for allegedly planning to overthrow the ruling government.
The three-member panel presided over by Justice Afia Serwaa Asare-Botwe and assisted by Justices Hafisata Amaleboba and Stephen Oppong issued the order after the accused person was absent from the proceedings yesterday, thereby forcing the court to adjourn the case.
“We all know that in a criminal matter the absence of one accused person makes it impossible for the trial to continue. But we want to ensure that the excuse duty is coming from proper custody so will be making an order for the doctor to appear before us tomorrow,” Justice Asare-Botwe said prior to the issuance of the subpoena on the medical doctor.
The court therefore, ordered Dr. Joel Pabi to appear before it today to confirm whether indeed he attended to Bright Alan Debrah and gave him two days to rest as his counsel had indicated to the court.
The hearing will then commence today for Victor Adawudu, counsel for Donya Kafui, Bright Alan Debrah, Lance Corporal Sylvester Akapewu and Lance Corporal Seidu Abubakar to cross examine the prosecution’s third witness, Staff Sergeant Awarf Kojo Sule.
Main Trial
The ten made up of civilians, a military officer, a senior police officer and some soldiers are before the court on charges of high treason and abetment of high treason for allegedly plotting to overthrow a democratically elected government.
They are Dr. Frederick Yao MacPalm, proprietor of the Citadel Hospital at Alajo in Accra who is suspected to be the mastermind of the plot; Donya Kafui aka Ezor, a local weapon manufacturer; Bright Alan Debrah Ofosu aka Bright Alan Yeboah or BB, Lance Corporal Ali Solomon, Lance Corporal Sylvester Akanpewon, Lance Corporal Seidu Abubakar and WO II Esther Saan Dekuwine aka Mama Gee.
The rest are Johannes Zikpi, a civilian employee with the Ghana Armed Forces, ACP Dr. Benjamin Agordzo of the Ghana Police Service and Col. Samuel Kojo Gameli of the Ghana Armed Forces.
Case Facts
The facts of the case indicate how the accused persons who are members of an NGO called Take Action Ghana (TAG) held several meetings to discuss the recruitment of more soldiers, the acquisition of weapons and bullet proof gears, development of sketch maps of key installations and facilities of the state to be attacked during their planned takeover of government.
The facts state that the accused persons were planning to capture the President and some key individuals in the country and also how to force the President to announce his overthrow once he was captured.
The accused persons were again said to have contemplated in their discussions whether or not to kill the President in the process of overthrowing the government.
Weapons Manufacturing
According to the facts, the accused persons in furtherance of the plot to overthrow government, Dr. Mac-Palm contracted Donya Kafui to manufacture explosives and pistols and Dr. Mac-Palm subsequently converted his X-ray laboratory of his Citadel Hospital at Alajo in Accra into a manufacturing shop where Kafui mounted his tools and machines to manufacture the weapons.
Again, the accused are said to have procured weapons and test-fired the locally manufactured weapons at the military shooting range general area at Teshie, Accra.
The accused persons, according to the prosecution, also discussed the procurement of electronic jamming devices and vehicles that would enable them take over the National Communications Authority (NCA) and jam all radio stations with the exception of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), where they intended to broadcast their successful overthrow of the government from.
The facts further indicated that the military and other security agencies on September 20, 2019, stormed the Citadel Hospital and arrested Dr. Mac-Palm and Donya Kafui, and also retrieved some hidden weapons from a generator set and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from some car tyres on the premises of the hospital.
“A thorough search of the premises of the hospital and the houses of the accused persons by security operatives revealed the sketch maps, tools used in the manufacturing of the weapons and the IEDs, locally manufactured pistols, several rounds of ammunitions, three hand smoke grenades, among others,” the facts stressed.
